New recipe for Bebivita formulae

Dear Parents,
We have some news for you:

The recipe of our Bebivita formulae will be changing over the next few months. The reason for this is a new European Directive on infant and follow-on formulae. It regulates and standardises the composition of formulae in Europe.

This means that formulae will be tailored to be even closer to the special needs of babies. At the same time, our well-known, stringent, high-quality safety standards will remain unchanged, meaning that you can continue to rely on them.

As of autumn 2019, you can find the new Bebivita formulae in stores.


The most important recipe changes at a glance

  • The amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids in Pre as well as stage 1, 2 and 3 formulae will be increased.
  • The content of certain vitamins and minerals will be changed.
  • The energy content will be changed to resemble that of breast milk.

Due to the new recipe, our infant formula will be more concentrated. This is why we will also adjust our feeding guide.

More information about the new recipes

The recipe of both our Bebivita Infant Formula and our Bebivita Follow-on Formula will be changing.

The amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids in Pre as well as stage 1, 2 and 3 formulae will be increased.
What are polyunsaturated fatty acids?
Polyunsaturated fatty acids include omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. They are, of course, also present in breast milk, but the amount depends heavily on the mother’s diet. Polyunsaturated fatty acids play an important role in the development of a baby’s brain, nervous system and vision.

The content of certain vitamins and minerals will be changed.
The minimum and maximum amounts of nutrients will be adjusted according to the latest scientific findings, to better meet the nutritional needs of infants.

The energy content will be changed to resemble that of breast milk.
The recommendations concerning an infant’s daily recommended energy intake will be adjusted according to the latest scientific findings.

New feeding guide
Due to the new recipe, our Bebivita infant formulae will be more concentrated, which means that you will need less powder to get the required amount of feed (in ml) for your baby’s bottle.

Owing to these new product characteristics, the feeding guide for infant formulae will be adapted.

Please note that these figures are only guidelines. They will help you get an idea of the amount your baby might need for their age. If your baby drinks more or less than recommended above, it’s absolutely fine because every baby has their own individual drinking frequency.


Where on the packaging can I find the feeding guide?

You can find the feeding guide on the back of our Bebivita formula packs. They provide you with reference values for the different drinking amounts. Here you can see an example of a Bebivita feeding guide:

Thanks to the new recipe, the solubility of our formula will improve. This will make preparing the bottle a lot easier:

  1. Boil drinking water freshly before each bottle feed and allow it to cool down to approx. 40–50°C.
  2. Pour the required amount of the prepared water (according to the feeding guide) into the feeding bottle.
  3. Loosely fill the enclosed measuring scoop and wipe off any excess powder with the back of a knife. Add the powder (according to the feeding guide) to the feeding bottle.
  4. Close the bottle and shake vigorously.
  5. Allow it to cool down to drinking temperature (approx. 37°C) – check temperature!

In our experience, alterations of the recipe do not lead to any changes regarding tolerability or digestion.

We do know, however, that very sensitive babies may react to even the slightest changes to their usual formula. It is therefore possible that the colour and consistency of your baby’s stool may change. This is, however, temporary and will subside after a few days, once their little bodies get used to the new formula. Should these anomalies persist for more than 2 weeks, we recommend that you consult your paediatrician about them.

You can certainly use up the formula you are currently using.
Tip: The best way to transition from one feed to another is to do so gradually. Increase the number of feeds with the new formula by one bottle a day. This way, your baby’s digestive system can gradually get used to the new formula.

The products will be in stores by the end of 2019. The words "new recipe" on the packaging will make it easy to identify the new formulae.

Our new infant formulae will be tailored to be even closer to the special nutritional needs of infants. With Bebivita, you can be sure that even after breastfeeding, your baby will be provided with everything they need for their development.

The highest quality and safety standards will continue to apply to the selection of our raw materials as well as to the production of our formulae.

With Bebivita, you can rely on more than 20 years of brand know-how. For more than 20 years, we have been focusing on providing you with top quality products because the well-being of your baby is our priority. This includes choosing our ingredients very carefully and checking them thoroughly and continuously according to the latest standards in laboratory testing and throughout all steps of the production process.

As we are introducing a new recipe, we are also updating the design of our formula packs in order to make it even easier for you to find our Bebivita formulae on the shelves.

The typical Bebivita design elements, such as the sunny yellow colour or our Bebivita Bear, will, of course, remain unchanged.

The feeding stages, product names and recommended feeding ages of our formulae will also remain unchanged.